dazed and confused
by choikimmy
Summary: in which Megumi Shiraishi was forced to share the same hotel room with Kousaku Aizawa.


Megumi Shiraishi did not know how she ended up in this situation. One minute she was excited to represent Shohoku Hospital in a medical conference, and the next minute, she was greeted with a news that nearly threw her off her feet.

"W-what do you mean there is only _one_ hotel room booked?" She asked, eyes so wide they nearly popped out of their sockets. The hotel receptionist looked on, somewhat apologetic, but firm in her reply. "I'm sorry, Miss. The reservation under your name indicates that it is only for one room."

Shiraishi was clearly flustered, darting careful looks at the quiet man behind her. "Um, well, okay. They must have made a mistake, then." She calmed herself before continuing, "Is there another room we could book for the night?"

The receptionist paused, eyes on the computer in front of her. Shiraishi was drumming her fingers on the counter, wondering who had made the mistake of reserving only _one_ hotel room when there were clearly _two_ representatives. She shook her head, slight hope gleaming in her eyes as she saw how the receptionist was clicking away with a smile. _It shouldn't be a problem_ , Shiraishi thought to herself, _it won't make sense if there's no—_

"I'm sorry, Miss." The moment she heard that phrase, Shiraishi felt her heart sinking. "Because of the conference tomorrow, all our rooms are fully booked tonight."

She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. "A-are you sure?" Shiraishi was stuttering, _why was she even stuttering,_ "I mean, there has got to be at least one extra room…"

Shiraishi's sentence trailed off as she saw how the receptionist shook her head firmly. "I wish I could help you, miss, but there really isn't any vacant room at the moment. Our hotel representative called the hospital yesterday to confirm your booking, and we were told that only one room was needed." The brunette said politely before adding, "So, do you still want the room reserved under your name, miss?"

Hundreds of jumbled, incoherent thoughts began to fill Shiraishi's mind that she suddenly couldn't find any words to reply her. She stared at the receptionist for a few seconds quietly as Shiraishi furrowed her eyebrows in frustration. It took a nudge from the man behind her to break her trance as he cleared his throat and moved towards the counter. "Yes, we'll take it, please."

Shiraishi had jumped in her shoes at the sound of his voice. Kousaku Aizawa was now standing beside her, signing the required document on her behalf since she was too stunned to do anything.

"Enjoy your stay," The receptionist handed over the keys with a polite bow. Shiraishi could barely even hear her over the sound of herself panicking in her mind. Taking deep breaths, it took Aizawa another nudge for her to look at him.

"Shiraishi," Aizawa began, swinging Shiraishi's bag pack behind his shoulders. He was in his usual calm demeanour as he started to pull her away from the counter gently. "It'd be fine."

"I just don't understand how the hospital could make this mistake." Shiraishi was frowning, but had began to calm down. Aizawa was leading her to the elevator quietly as she looked at him apologetically. "Sorry, I should have answered the call myself to confirm yesterday, but I was so caught up with work—"

"It really is _fine_." Aizawa repeated with a shrug. "I'm sure they booked the room with two single beds, anyway. They were probably trying to cut down on the cost."

As soon as he said that, Shiraishi suddenly felt stupid, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. It never occurred to her that there was a possibility of the hospital reserving a room with two single beds instead of what she had in mind. At that, she let out an awkward laugh. "Right. You're probably right. Gosh, why didn't I think about that?"

Aizawa didn't reply, though he was deeply amused with Shiraishi's reaction. It was rather… _cute_ , if he were to be honest with himself, then somewhat relieved his expression didn't betray his inner thoughts.

The ride up to their floor seemed long, as Shiraishi awkwardly shifted her feet a few times. They were back to being quiet, even when the elevator stopped and they got out together. Aizawa was leading the way to their room, and Shiraishi thought it was the right time to say something, _anything._

"I'm glad you're with me, Aizawa-kun." Right after she said that though, she wished the ground would just open up and swallow her whole. _What are you saying, Megumi?_ She mentally slapped herself, _get yourself together!_

"I-I mean you're always so calm, while I nearly lost it earlier." She cringed at every word that was coming out from her mouth. They've reached their room, and Aizawa had swiped the keycard on the lock. He looked at her, still mildly amused at how her words didn't exactly make any sense, before pushing the door and gesturing her inside. "I wish I had half your ca—"

Shiraishi's jaw dropped open immediately at the sight in front of her. She thought she had gotten a grip of herself, but the moment she saw the lone queen-sized bed in the middle of the room, Shiraishi could feel the wave of panic rising in her stomach once again.

Aizawa, too, was looking at the same direction as his fellow comrade. A few seconds past by, silently, as though he was trying to comprehend the situation in front of his eyes. Aizawa cleared his throat in the end, so that Shiraishi would snap out of her reverie and they could settle down for the night.

"I'll sleep on the floor." He finally said, a little too hurriedly before putting Shiraishi's bag on the bed and dumping his on the chair nearby.

* * *

"Aizawa-kun?" Shiraishi squeaked out softly a few hours later. "Are you still awake?"

There was a pause, before she heard the grunt coming from the man lying on the floor. She shifted on her bed uncomfortably, finally sitting up to switch the bed lights on. "This isn't going to work."

"What?" Aizawa was sitting up as well, his hair a mess as he looked at Shiraishi. "What do you mean?"

"This arrangement." Shiraishi said while pointing at him and then to herself. "You're going to hurt your back, and it's cold."

Another silence filled the air as Shiraishi inwardly sighed. Her heart was racing for some reasons she could not understand, but she forced herself to continue. "I mean, we're friends, right? So…I don't see why we can't just…share a bed."

The moment that came out from her mouth, Shiraishi could feel herself blushing. Which to her, was extremely uncalled for. Her suggestion was after all, an innocent request from a worried friend. It is going be a long day the next morning, and she would feel guilty if Aizawa had suffered because he had to sleep on the floor.

She could see that Aizawa was thinking hard, his eyebrows were knitted together. "As…as long as we stay on our side of the bed…" She was stammering now, and Shiraishi wanted to slap herself. Why was she so nervous? She really didn't understand herself sometimes.

"You want to…share a bed." Aizawa repeated, his expression ever so stoic. Shiraishi wished for once he could let his expression tell her what he was thinking. She didn't even know if what he just said was a statement or a question.

"Is that…inappropriate?" She could barely hear herself, what with how loud and hard her heart was drumming against her chest. "I mean, _no,_ not in _that_ sense, but like, inappropriate because I'm your colleague and…and…a girl…and…" Realising that she made no sense, Shiraishi found herself at a lost for words, once again. "Y-you know what, never mind. Forget what I said." She hastily said, slumping back onto the bed and switching the lights off. She could still feel her cheeks glowing with heat, sweat trickling down her back although the temperature was 19 degree celsius.

Aizawa on the other hand, didn't know what to do. He had half the mind to just crawl into the bed because of how uncomfortable it was on the floor, but the other half of his mind was screaming at him and asking him to stay put. He frowned, unsure of this inner conflict he was facing. Shiraishi had a point, they were both friends, it shouldn't be a problem to share a bed. He didn't quite mind it, honestly. It wasn't as if _anything_ was going to happen…

At that thought, Aizawa had to stop himself. It would be dangerous to think of anything near _that,_ especially if it was Megumi Shiraishi on the receiving end. It wasn't that he didn't like her, in fact, Shiraishi could honestly be the person he was closest to in Shohoku. It wasn't also that he didn't see her as a woman, because if he was to be frank, Shiraishi could easily be a celebrity if she wasn't so dedicated to saving people's lives.

Aizawa frowned even harder, now confused with himself. Why was he suddenly thinking of Shiraishi like _that_? Even he himself was starting to make no sense.

"Good night, Aizawa-kun." Shiraishi broke his thoughts, voice as soft as ever.

"Night, Shiraishi." He responded three seconds later, lying down again.

As soon as his body hit the carpeted floor, he could feel the icy cold sensation rippling across his back in a split second. He grunted, turning to his side and pulling his jacket closer. There was a towel covering his lower body, but it was still freezing cold.

Of course, the option of sharing the bed with Shiraishi flit into his mind again. He contemplated for a few seconds before coming back to the same conclusion. Aizawa sighed, knowing full well that he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

Somehow or rather, he had this feeling Shiraishi wouldn't be able to sleep that night as well, even though she was in a better and comfortable position than him.

* * *

Shiraishi was awoken by the sound of water running, and she bolted up on the bed in an instant. Her mind was in a daze, a headache settling itself casually on the base of her head. She was groaning, hands covering her face in attempt to hide how horrible she looked at that moment. Shiraishi was sure her face was puffy, since she had barely slept a wink throughout the night.

Shiraishi let out a yawn, unable to hide how tired she was. Although she was sitting upright on the bed, her eyelids felt so heavy that she was so sure she could just fell asleep there and then.

"Shiraishi."

At the sound of her name, her eyes flew opened in shock. She didn't even realise the water was no longer running. Shiraishi could feel the blush creeping back onto her face as she stared at a shirtless Aizawa standing in front of her.

She was fighting the urge to squeak and hide under the duvet, but Shiraishi kept a straight face. If Aizawa could do it, _so can she._ "Oh, good morning, Aizawa-kun."

"The conference starts in an hour." Aizawa continued, slipping on his formal shirt casually as though he wasn't aware that Shiraishi was staring at him. "I'll wait for you downstairs."

"Th-thanks." She managed to squeak out, her eyes now on the floor as she scrambled to get ready. Aizawa was fixing his tie, and Shiraishi was trying her best not to stare at him, or imagined another shirtless Aizawa in her mind. _Stop it,_ she chided herself mentally, embarrassed at what she had thought, _you're out of your mind, Megumi!_

It was only after Aizawa had left the hotel room that Shiraishi could breathe properly, finally able to calm her pounding heart.

* * *

The next morning, upon submitting the report for the medical conference to the Director of Shohoku Hospital, Shiraishi was greeted by an extremely cheerful Hiyama at the staff station. Shiraishi was used to Hiyama being all loud and cheerful most of the time, and today was not an exception.

"Good morning~" Mihoko Hiyama chirped loudly. For some reason that Shiraishi didn't know, Hiyama had a huge grin on her face as she continued to stare at her colleague. "So…how was the conference?"

"It was great." Shiraishi replied curtly, though she was instantly reminded of the fiasco that had happened that night. She glanced up from her clipboard, debating with herself if she should tell Hiyama about what had happened.

"Really? That's all? I would have thought it would be boring since they sent Aizawa with you." Hiyama prodded further, still grinning. Shiraishi was now staring at her, frowning, before shaking her head and going back to the clipboard in her hands.

Hiyama sighed before getting up from her seat, ready to do her rounds that morning. "Ah, Shiraishi, you're seriously not fun."

"Hmm?"

"I thought you would have a better story to tell since you had to share a room with _Aizawa._ "

It took Shiraishi a few seconds to realise what Hiyama had meant, but by the time she came to her senses, Hiyama was already gone. She could feel herself turning red again as her eyes met Yokomine's. The fellow was forcing herself not to smile, but she was failing miserably. Shiraishi shook her head furiously. "N-no, it's a _misunderstanding_."

From a distance, Shiraishi thought she could hear Hiyama cackling.

* * *

(end)

 **a/n:** this is my first shiraishi/aizawa fic, which is surprising since i've shipped them since 7 years ago lmao. I hope you enjoyed reading it!


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